Paneer Pepper Fry (Dry Recipe)

Paneer pepper fry is an easy party appetizer or starter with fried paneer cubes, green bell peppers and onions. With just a few ingredients, this is a dry and spicy but very flavorful dish that comes together fairly quickly. Your guests will love it!

Entertaining, but don't want to do anything too involved or difficult? Try this quick and easy paneer pepper fry. The paneer cubes are crisp and golden on the outside and so soft when you bite into them, and the peppers and onions add that much needed crunch. It's so good, you won't have any leftovers:)

Here's a simple breakdown of the steps involved: coat the paneer in a mixture of cornstarch, salt and black pepper and fry to a golden brown color. Toss the fried paneer, along with onions and green peppers, in a thick sauce made of ginger, garlic, soy sauce and red chilli flakes.

That's literally it! The paneer and veggies drink up the sauce and become glossy in two minutes. And what you get is this beautiful, bursting with flavor dish that your guests will not get enough of.

🥘Ingredients

Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.

• Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) - if using store-bought, soak in hot water for 5 minutes before cutting into small cubes. This will soften the cheese. If you have homemade paneer, you don't need to soak it.
• Cornstarch
• Black pepper - freshly cracked
• Sea salt
• Green bell peppers or capsicum - cut into small squares, Chinese style.
• Red onions - petals separated, Chinese style.
• Cooking oil - for frying the paneer and making the sauce.
• Ginger - minced
• Garlic - minced
• Soy sauce - a good quality soy sauce is essential to the success of this recipe.
• Red chilli flakes - omit for less heat.

🔪 Instructions

Preparation

1. Cut the block of paneer into small cubes.

2. Cut the bell pepper and onions into squares.

3. Mince the ginger and garlic.

Cooking

1. Take the cornstarch, black pepper, and sea salt in a bowl and mix together. Add the paneer cubes and turn them around in the bowl until fully coated with the cornstarch mixture.

2. Pour some oil in a frypan, and when shimmering, add the paneer cubes. Fry on all sides until golden brown and crisp. Take them out in a platter and keep aside.

3. Heat two tablespoons oil in a wok or karahi and add the minced ginger and garlic. Sauté for two minutes.

4. Add the green pepper and onions, followed by the soy sauce, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. Toss on medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables wilt slightly and turn glossy.

5. In the end, add the fried paneer cubes and toss for a minute to coat with the sauce. Spoon it out immediately into a platter and serve hot.

How to fry the paneer perfectly

• Make sure the oil for frying the paneer is sizzling hot. To test the heat, stick a wooden skewer in it, and if you see small bubbles rising around the skewer, it is hot enough. If the oil is not hot, the paneer will absorb more oil than necessary and also turn hard due to overcooking.
• Don't overcrowd the pan with too many paneer pieces while frying as this will bring down the temperature of the oil. Fry in batches if necessary.
• Keep turning the paneer with a spoon to ensure even browning. It should brown fairly quickly if the oil is hot.
• Finally, don't allow the paneer to burn! Take it out as soon as it starts changing color. It can go from a nice golden brown to burnt pretty fast.

💭Top tips

• Make sure your wok is nice and hot while sautéing the green peppers and onions too. When they hit the wok, you should hear them sizzle and crackle. This is to ensure they don't turn soggy. We also want to sauté them briefly so they lose their rawness but not their crunch.
• Spoon out the paneer pepper fry into a platter immediately after it is ready, so it doesn't keep cooking in the warmth of the wok.

Serving suggestions

• Serve in a large and shallow platter for effect.
• Make sure the pepper paneer fry is fresh and hot when you serve it. This does not work as a make-ahead recipe because the vegetables will lose their crispness and turn soggy on being kept for too long.
• If you do have leftovers, you can pile them in a couple of tortillas or roti (Indian bread) to make wraps for a quick meal. They taste delicious!

More paneer appetizers

Love paneer? Try these mouthwatering appetizers, all featuring paneer.

📖 Recipe